OR nurse vs EP Lab nurse

martymoose, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2016

Hi- I was an EP nurse for a little bit. It was interesting/challenging. I thought of it as the best of both worlds-cardiac and OR.

Did a lot of conscious sedation, although some docs only used anesthesiologists/CRNAs.

Lots of defibrillating.

Sometimes people came in as train wrecks- I remember a CTICU post cabg/valve? pt came straight to us from the or- Im assuming he had no underlying rhythm. Was on 6 drips!

Had a guy get an AICD because of DCM from sleep apnea. On the fluoro, that was the most enlarged heart I had ever seen- it filled his whole chest. he was only in his 50's

Lots of ablations- would run the RFA machine on the docs orders. That was intense. Also had to manage heparin drips during these. not unheard of to have ACT of 300+ during the procedure.also would pull the art /venous lines after ACT in acceptable range. Pulling art line sheaths can be very scary; if pt gets hematoma or uncontrolled bleeding from you not holding the artery effectively. gotta have strong hands.

So it was very intense/job specific, and very involved.

I had wanted to go to OR but cant d/t my knees being shot. But it seemed more regimented/standardized. You had to learn/remember what each surgeons preferences were.

EP was no on- call. OR you have to take call.

HTH. good luck

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2016

I liked pulling arterial line sheaths. :)

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Oct 17, 2016

My EP lab is very different than the one above. It is so incredibly boring. We don't get to run the stimulator at all. We basically get to set the pt up, do sedation if there isn't general anesthesia then run ACTs. Some people love it, but I certainly would rather be doing a complex PCI or LHC any day of the week.

Bx25 · Oct 25, 2016

Thank you for your comments